Malaysia to liberize steel market effective 12 May 2008

It has been quite some times since the Master Builders Association of Malaysia (MBAM) and Real Estate Housing Developers Association (REHDA) called on the Government of Malaysia to lift the price controls on steel products and allow the free market to decide its actual price. The Malaysian Iron and Steel Industries Federation (MISIF) has also been urging the Government to lift the import restrictions of flat steel products.

Finally, our Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi announced the liberization of steel market after the cabinet meeting on Friday 9 May. This decision includes:

• lifting of price caps to steel products
• exempting steel importers from having to pay import duties
• scraping the requirement for steel importers to obtain import license
• allowing local steel producers to export their products

So, who will be benefited from this move?

1. Manufacturers of cold rolled coils (CRC)

Currently, there are 4 main CRC manufacturers in Malaysia, which are Megasteel (of Lion Group), Mycron (5087), Ornasteel (5094) and Yung Kong (7020).

Before this, Megasteel is the only local producer of hot rolled coils (HRC), which is the raw material for CRC. The problem faced was:

• lack of supply
• price of HRC supplied by Megasteel is relatively higher than world market
• quality of HRC supplied by Megasteel is lower because they relies on scrap metal as feedstock
• restriction of importing raw material
• price cap to end product

All the above problems will be solved following this steel market liberization, and Ornasteel (5094), being the largest CRC producer in the country, will benefit the most.

2. Construction, property and automotive players

Before this, even though the price was capped to steel product, the supply and demand market was disrupted, and there was almost no supply to these industrial players unless they are willing to pay at the black market price, which is higher than the capped price.

The supply and demand market for steel products is expected to fall back to normal following this liberization, and the projects can be planned and budgetted more effectively.

The following industrial players are expected to get benefit from this:

Construction: Gamuda (5398), IJM (3336), WCT (9679)...

Property: SP Setia (8664), IOI Properties (1635), Metro Kajang (6114), Plenitu (5075), Suncity (6289), E&O (3417)...

Automotive: Proton (5304), MBMR (5983), UMW (4588).

Disclaimer: This article is intended for sharing of point of view only. It is not an advice or recommendation to buy or sell any of the mentioned stock counters. You should do your own homework before trading in Bursa Malaysia.

VisualWade the PHP code generator

VisualWade is a freeware PHP code generator that generates web applications from design models. You will be able to design and deploy sophisticated web applications in PHP connected with relational databases like MySQL, PostgreSQL or ORACLE with just a few mouse clicks.

VisualWade is a great PHP developer solution to generate a complete solution in a very small period of time and ready to deploy in a PHP web server. It generates all PHP necessaries pages and also the database creation script. It generates the interface tier as templates, easy for customization and final touch-up.

This Model driven web development tools uses UML as class diagram specification, and complete with Navigational Access Diagrams (NAD) and Composition Layout Diagrams (CLD) for the user navigation specification according to the Object-Oriented Hypermedia (OO-H) method developed at University of Alicante. It also uses Object Constraint Language (OCL) as complementary language.

Asian Festival of Speed car club gathering at Sepang International Circuit on 18 May 2008

The Asian Festival Of Speed (AFOS) organized by Motorsport Asia Ltd. is recognised regionally and internationally as the premier Asian Motorsport Series. This 4-day race meeting at Sepang International Circuit begins on Thursday, 15th May, with a qualifying session, and the first two 10-lap races run the following day on the full 5.54km Grand Prix circuit. Saturday will see another qualifying session for the three further rounds which will be held over 20-laps each of the tight 2.72km North track.

Motorsport Asia Ltd. has invited all the car clubs in Malaysia to participate in the biggest car club gathering of the year during this biggest Asian Festival of Speed 2008 event on the 18th May at Sepang International Circuit.

Participating car club members are also invited to witness 6 power packed races, i.e. Asian Touring Car Series, ATCS 1500Max Challenge, Asia Supercar Challenge, Formula V6 Asia, Formula BMW Pacific and Formula Asia 2.0. There will also be a photo session with Race Queens from projectracequeens.com.

Microsoft released Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3)

Microsoft has just released Service Pack 3 (SP3) for the Windows XP operating system. This service pack includes all previously released Windows XP updates, including security updates and hotfixes, and selected out-of-band releases.

Among the previously released functionality which is included in this SP3 are: MMC 3.0, MSXML6, Microsoft Windows Installer 3.1 v2, Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS) 2.5, IPSec Simple Policy Update, Digital Identity Management Service (DIMS), Peer Name Resolution Protocol (PNRP) 2.1, Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) 6.1, Wi-Fi Protected Access 2 (WPA2).

It also includes a new functionality called Network Access Protection (NAP) to help organizations that use Windows XP to take advantage of new features in the Windows Server 2008 operating system. Beside that, improvements to black hole router detection is included too.

As with previous service packs, no product key is requested or required when installing Windows XP SP3 using the update package available through Microsoft Update. However, the Windows Product Activation mechanism has also been upgraded.

This Windows XP SP3 is for x86 editions of Windows XP only. The x64 editions of Windows XP were serviced by Windows Server 2003 SP2.

Click here for more information and download of Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3).

Toyota Owners Journal

Recently, UMW Toyota has split out the Toyota Owner's Journal from their Tribe Toyota portal and added more features to it.

Toyota Owner's Journal is a web portal for car owners who have purchased a Toyota vehicle from UMW Toyota or their dealers. It enables you to view and/or update your personal and contact details in their system. You can also view the purchase details and specification of your Toyota vehicle, its insurance details, and your 24SEVEN Road Assist membership details.

If you serviced your car with Toyota service centre, you can also view your service history, including date of service, mileage when serviced, service centre location, invoice amount, served by who, service type and parts changed. Information for your next scheduled service is also displayed on the screen.

Other than that, you can also view the eVouchers that you've earned, their value, issued date, expiry date, and rebate status.

There is also a reminders section that you can opt to receive reminder email for your next scheduled service, renewal of road tax and insurance, renewal of 24SEVEN Road Assist membership, etc.

Blogger Backup Utility

Blogger Backup Utility is an open source utility running on Windows PC to backup and/or restore the blog posts hosted in Blogger a.k.a. BlogSpot. It is developed by Greg Duncan and is running on top of Microsoft .NET Framework, therefore you need to have this framework component installed in your Windows PC before it can be used.



It makes use of your Google credential to automatically search for the URL and feeds of your blog(s). Alternatively, you can manually key-in those information without using your credential information.

What Blogger Backup Utility can do?

• it can incrementally backup all your posts in Blogger (BlogSpot) and save them locally as XML files.
• it can also incrementally backup all the comments in your blog.
• it can help you to restore back your backup posts to Blogger (BlogSpot).

What Blogger Backup Utility cannot do at the moment?

• comment restore would be available in future release.
• picture backup and restore would be available in future release.
• video clip backup and restore would be available in future release.

In order to use this utility, you should set your Blogger settings to allow for FULL blog feeds. Beside this, you should go to the Edit HTML page of Blogger and download your full template to your local PC, as this utility will not backup your template either.

Click here to download the installation file for Blogger Backup Utility. You can also click here to download its source code.

Withdrawal of EPF money for housing loan monthly installment

Since 1 January 2008, EPF a.k.a. KWSP members are also allowed to withdraw their money from EPF Account II to pay for their monthly instalments of a housing loan, which has been taken up for the purpose of buying or building a house.

Unlike the withdrawal of EPF money to reduce housing loan which the money is directly made payable to the bank, this withdrawal for housing loan monthly installment can be banked in to your personal savings account and its usage is just up to you, if your housing loan does not have the non-performing (NPL) status. Otherwise, the money will still go to the bank as if the withdrawal to reduce housing loan. In anyway, you should not let your housing loan to fall into NPL status, because the interest rate will be high, and the bank might put your house on auction to recover the defaulted loan.

I would advise you to opt for the withdrawal of EPF money to reduce housing loan instead of this one if you intend to use the money for your housing loan. This is because that method will directly reduce your loan principal in a lump sum and can save you interest as well as reduce the loan tenure period, but this method might not do the same for you and you might end up saving nothing.

I would advise you to use this monthly withdrawal of EPF money for purposes like the following:

• to settle out your outstanding credit card debts. This is because the interest rate is high, and soon you will lost your credit card interest free period if your debt is not settled.
• for purchase down payment or settle the loan of your car. This is because the car loan interest is calculated differently, and is generally higher than your housing loan. I have already written an article about this.
  
• for house renovation, wedding, birth of child, etc. This is because the interest rate for personal loan is generally higher than your housing loan.
  
• for investment in 2nd house, business turnover, or investments that you believe the return is much higher than EPF dividend.
  

You should continue to serve your housing loan monthly installment in time every month, because this withdrawal could be cancelled by EPF if you don't do so. And if you don't intend to use the money, it is wise to keep your money with EPF to earn the dividend instead of withdrawing it, unless you foresee that the EPF dividend in the future would be even worse than the bank savings interest.

This withdrawal is eligible to:

• A Malaysian citizen
• A permanent resident in Malaysia
• An expatriate who joint as member of EPF before 1 August 1998

To apply for this withdrawal, you must have minimum savings of RM600 in your EPF Account II and have not reached 54 years of age. The minimum withdrawal amount is RM100 per month for a period of not less than 6 months, and the maximum monthly withdrawal amount must not exceed your monthly loan repayment amount.

The withdrawal process is pretty much the same as the withdrawal to reduce housing loan. You just need to complete the Form KWSP 9P (AHL) and submit it together with the required supporting documents to the nearest EPF office. You must go to the EPF office by yourself because your thumbprint is required to verify your application.

The required supporting documents are:

• Your MyKad
• Your bank savings account book or statement
  
• Photocopy of both side of your MyKad, printed on the same page of A4 size paper
• Photocopy of the pages containing your bank account details (including your full name, IC number, bank account number, branch of bank, etc.) of your bank savings account book or latest bank statement
• Letter from the bank confirming your housing loan details and the latest outstanding balance. You have to apply for this letter from your bank.

During the tenure period of this EPF Account II withdrawal arrangement, you cannot sell your house, make full settlement to your housing loan account, default to Non Performing Loan, or empty up your money in EPF Account II for other purposes, such in the case of Disability Withdrawal, Death Withdrawal or Leaving-Country Withdrawal. Otherwise, EPF will just cancel the monthly payment to you.

Withdrawal of EPF money to reduce housing loan

Most EPF a.k.a. KWSP members know that they can widhdraw the money in their EPF Account II for the purpose of reducing or settling the balance of their housing loan taken from a financial institution approved by EPF for the purchase or construction of a house in Malaysia. This can help them to settle their housing loan in shorter period and save on the interest payable to the bank, at the trade-off of losing the annual dividend payable by EPF on that amount of money.

This withdrawal is eligible to:

• A Malaysian citizen
• A permanent resident in Malaysia
• An expatriate who joint as member of EPF before 1 August 1998

To apply for this withdrawal, you must have minimum savings of RM500 in your EPF Account II and have not reached 55 years of age.

The withdrawal process is pretty much the same as the withdrawal made to partially finance the purchase of new house. You just need to complete the Form KWSP 9C (AHL) and submit it together with the required supporting documents to the nearest EPF office. You must go to the EPF office by yourself because your thumbprint is required to verify your application.

The required supporting documents are:

• Your MyKad
• Photocopy of both side of your MyKad, printed on the same page of A4 size paper
  
• Letter from the bank confirming your housing loan details and the latest outstanding balance. You have to apply for this letter from your bank.

Previously this kind of withdrawal can only be done at the frequency of every 3 years. Since 2007 the eligible frequency has been reduced to once per year. I have done this withdrawal for 2 times, and each time I got the money within 2 weeks upon submission.

The money is made payable to the bank for your housing loan account, and will directly use to reduce your loan principal. You can hardly withdraw it for other usage, and by right, you shouldn't do that too. If you intend to make use of the money otherwise, read my other article about EPF withdrawal which enable you to do that. Your housing loan statement for all subsequent months after that should show that the interest charges have been reduced.

Is it a wise move to perform this withdrawal of EPF money to reduce your housing loan? The answer is yes if you foresee that the dividend from EPF in the coming years is probably lower than the interest rate of your housing loan. Otherwise, it might not be a wise choice, as keeping your money to grow in your EPF Account II is more beneficial than reducing the interest payable for your housing loan account.

Upgraded e-Connect online service for Great Eastern Life Assurance Malaysia

I just noticed that the website of Great Eastern Life Assurance Malaysia at http://www.lifeisgreat.com.my/ has a new look and feel now. Their e-Connect service which allows policy holders to view their policy information on-line has also been upgraded.

Now, more information is displayed to the policy holders, the dollars and cents are more transparent. The upgraded system shows the break down of all the benefit details, how much installment premium was charged to each of the benefit and rider. Detailed investment link fund information including the units possessed and fund value. It also shows the break down of the current surrender value and policy loan value of the policy.

Good job! Great Eastern Life Assurance Malaysia. Your effort in getting closer connection with policy holders is very much appreciated. And yes, I also appreciate on the special bonus that you've credited into my policy account recently.

Tun Dr Mahathir enjoys the freedom of speech in Internet

It is not a secret that Malaysia has a long history of state censorship and tight media controls. All the local major newspapers, television and radio channels, of all languages, have censored and restrictive reporting. As a result, all the information from these formal channels are pretty uniformed. Many happenings were not even reported due to particular reasons.

As a result, more and more Malaysian opt to get more information and 2nd opinions from the foreign media and the Internet, which are beyond the control and censorship of the Government.

Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad had made a wise and correct decision for pledging not to censor the Internet when he officiated the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) project as the Prime Minister then in 1996. Today, he also enjoys the freedom of speech in the Internet by blogging and expressing his political points of view, which might not have chances to appear in the local media. Because of this, now people can still read his concerns and views to the nation, in the same way as we read Lim Kit Siang, Jeff Ooi, Ahirudin Attan and others.

Click here to go to the blog of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, former Prime Minister of Malaysia.

Zaptor performance voltage stabilizer Acoustic Gold III v.2008

I heard a lot about this Zaptor performance voltage stabilizer from AOCM, and have seen it installed in the Toyota Avanza of most AOCM members. It is a proven product which able to boost the performance of Toyota Avanza, and I have it installed today during the AOCM TT session. It comes with double sided tape and I sticked it on one of the leg of my Ultra Racing strut bar near the battery.



Today's car is functioned by many electrical and electronic components, the most important being the Engine Control Unit (ECU) which is a computer controlling the engine operations of the car. The ECU is highly dependent on all the sensors that provide accurate data and signals to coordinate various parts in different places of the car. This ECU can give the best judgement if and only if the signal received is accurate, which is affected by the electrical flow of the system. Therefore, a stable and powerful electrical system in the car will ensure best torque and response at all times.

The function of the voltage stabilizer is to stabilized the electrical current generated by the alternator, by storing some electrical energy in capacitors so that stable and constant electrical energy can be maintained all times even if there is voltage drop or surge across the car electrical system. It can also filter out electrical noise and eliminate irregular current flow in the car electrical system. Its working concept is similar to the Power Saver unit in my home.

Zaptor performance voltage stabilizer is developed by a member of Volvo Owners' Club of Malaysia (VOCM). The Acoustic Gold III version is waterproof, fuse protected, has voltage tolerance of up to 25 volts and operating temperature up to 105 degree Celcius. It has a compact size with a 7-colour battery status LED indicator. Most importantly, it functions in par with the branded voltage stabilizer made in Japan, and is distributed in AOCM at a much more affordable price. It is probably the lowest price voltage stabilizer product in Malaysia that can function effectively.

My feelings to the car after installation:

• engine starts immediately when ignited, there is no delay.
• engine respond faster and the fuel pedal is felt a little bit lighter. Probably this will improve in fuel economy.
• car accelerate smoother with increased torque as ECU works better.
  
• the RPM is very stable during idling, not so affected by air-cond condenser kick-in.
• cabin lights and headlights seems to be brighter.
• car audio sounds better.

I was told that the car battery water level will drop faster after the installation of this voltage stabilizer due to the charging effect. As such, using maintenance free battery is more convenient when voltage stabilizer is installed, to eliminate the need of frequent checking and top up of battery water.

The M-Shape Society

In January 2006, Dr. Kenichi Ohmae (大前研一博士), a Japanese management guru, business strategist and writer who is being described as "Mr. Strategy", has written another book named "The Impact of Rising Lower-Middle Class Population in Japan" (ロウアーミドルの冲撃) and being translated by Taiwanese to Chinese edition as "The M-Shape Society" (M 型社会). This book was published just a few months right after economist Atsushi Miura (三浦展) published the best selling "The Emergence of Lower-Class Society" (下流社会 新たな階層集団の出現).

In his book, Dr. Kenichi put up his observation that the structure of Japanese society has emerged from the existing dome shape normal distribution pattern into a twin-peak "M-shape" distribution.

The formation of this M-Shape society is resulting from the sidelining of the middle class into the lower class, while some managed to climb into the upper class. This phenomenon is formed when majority of people in the middle class gradually experienced a deterioration in their living standard.

There may be still remarkable progress in economic development, the GNP may still rise, there may still be economic growth, and the national average salary may still rise, but the rate of inflation and cost of living moves even faster, especially in the globalized world economic whereby more and more resources are gathered and secured by the upper class, while the lower class is starving from limited fund, fuel, energy, food, job, etc.

Dr. Kenichi thrown out 3 questions to the middle class:
1. Do you feel that your mortgage loan is a heavy burden (or you dare not possess any property)?
2. Are you planning to have kids (or you don't even think about getting married)?
3. Are you worried about your kids' future education fund (or you don't want to have kids)?

If you answer a "yes" to any of the 3 questions above, you might have noticed that you're sliding from the middle class towards the lower class, and if you are answering the question in the bracket, you are already in the lower class.

In fact, these questions are fairly related to my article about the HISC₅ of typical middle class person. Middle class persons are required to keep their HISC₅ to be all time well managed and in good order. Life is as if rowing a boat against the water flow, if you don't advance, you will lag behind. Unfortunately, as the worldwide competition is getting tougher and tougher, the "water flow" is getting stronger and stronger, which tear apart the people in the middle, eventually forming the M-Shape society.

One must have plan to get ready for the formation of this M-Shape society, which is evolving all over the world now. In this era of K-economy world, we must get ourselves well equipped with knowledges, skillsets, innovations and productivity at least in 2 areas, which are our career and also our financial management.

Public & Business Financial (PBF) Expo 2008

The 4th Public & Business Financial (PBF) Expo, organized by Money Compass Magazine (精明理财), published by Trans Info Media Sdn Bhd), will be held in Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre Exhibition Hall 2 on this coming 10 & 11 May 2008 9am-6pm.

The expo comprises 100 exhibition booths from financial management and investment sectors, and also seminar & forum by 20 local and oversea financial management speakers. Admission to public is free, and there will be free financial counselling and advice provided to the visitors.

The theme for this expo are:
1: Achieving Financial Freedom For A Brighter Tomorrow
2: Smart Financial Solutions For SME Business

Among the speakers are Dr. Wilson Lin Wei Shian (林伟贤博士), Lim Yuen Seong (林敬祥), Lee Teck Meng (李得民), Dato' Aric Ng Wai Sing (拿督伍伟成), Adrian Yeo Eng Hui (杨应辉), Koong Lin Loong (孔令龙), Dr. Ching Tow Fah (陈道华博士), Jackson Ting (陈芳瑞), Ernest Cheong, Phua Lee Kerk (潘立克), Wong Chai Soon (黄凯顺), Carol Yip (叶凯蓉), Dr. Clement Chiang (郑文元博士), Solon Wang (王志钧) and Benson Tseng (曾志尧).

Click here for more information about this event.

Naza Group founder and CEO passed away

Tan Sri S.M. Nasimuddin S.M. Amin, founder, chairman and chief executive officer of the Naza Group, passed away of lung cancer in California at 1.15am (Malaysian time). He was 54 years old and had been receiving treatment for cancer at a private hospital in Long Beach since January this year.

When he was 21, he had RM80,000 in his bank account which he saved from his remunerations from helping out his contractor father. A year later, he made his first million. It was 1975 and he did it by applying for government-issued Approved Permits (AP) to import cars for resell in the country. He was dubbed the "AP King" in the AP controversy event of 2005.

Naza Group, formed in 1974, has been famous for its automobile business. The group currently holds the Malaysian vehicles franchise for Ferrari, Kia, Peugeot, Brabus, Hamann and Ducati. It also holds the import permits for Mercedes Benz and Mazda vehicles.

Tan Sri Nasimuddin was quoted as saying: “I have always loved cars since my teenage years. That is why I am in this business. My father’s construction business was not my cup of tea.”

No more interest free period for credit card holders who didn't make full settlement

A recent article posted by SM Mohamed Idris, president of Consumers Association of Penang on Malaysiakini website alarmed all credit card holders in Malaysia about the change in interest free period of their credit cards, which will take effect on 1 July 2008.

Currently, credit card holders in Malaysia enjoy a 20 days interest free period from the card issuer's statement date for their retail transactions, regardless they've settled their previous month balance in full, partially, minimum, or unsettled. This priviledge of interest free period will soon be changed following the introduction of a new Tiered Interest Rate Structure
on retail purchases imposed by all credit card issuers in Malaysia, so called to be in line with the "latest guidelines by Bank Negara Malaysia".

Under the new structure, the 20 days interest free period for retail transactions is applicable only for card holders who have paid the previous month balance in full on or before the payment due date. If the card holder opts to pay partial or minimum payment, finance charges for retail transactions for the following month will be calculated from the day the transactions are posted to the card account, i.e. there will be no more interest free period for credit card account with any outstanding balance.

This will affect all the Malaysian credit card holders who are not afford to fully settle their balance in due time, and will further increase their burden with even more interest imposed for every transaction made with the credit card thereafter.

Although this will force all Malaysian credit card holders to be more caucious in spending with their credit card, it will also penalize those that need to use their credit card for emergency (eg. repairing broken belongings, hospitalization, baby birth, funeral, urgent turnover need, etc...) and need to take some times to settle out that emergency spending of larger amount than usual.

I hope that the existing 20 days interest free period can be retained, at least for the good credit card pay masters who settled at least their minimum amount without failure.

Click here to read the original article by SM Mohamed Idris.

Medklinn Mobile ionizer

I purchased this Medklinn Mobile ionizer for RM299 at their Jusco counter during promotion period last year.

The unit comes with 14 days money-back guarantee and 1 year defect warranty. It operates by plugging directly into the cigarette lighter socket of the car and bend it upwards. This ionizer requires no maintenance since it does not operate with filter, and I was told that it can last for at least 6 years.

The function of this MedKlinn Mobile ionizer is to deodourize and detoxify the air in the car. It floods the car's interior with massive amounts of negative ions. Large amount of negative ions (at least 2 million ions emission per second) can effectively remove offensive odours and pollutants such as pollen, dust particles, cigarette smoke and exhaust fumes effectively, thus reducing the risk to our health.

I have tested it with durian, and it's deodourize function works very well. It is a better substitute for car fragrance that most people use in their car, because those fragrance are made out of synthetic chemicals that might be harmful to our respiratory system.

There are many other ionizers available, but might not be as effective due to much lesser amount of ions produced. Some can even be harmful to our health due to too much ozone produced.

They've sent a postcard to me, informing that they'll be exhibiting in this HOMEDEC 2008.

Boneless wiper

Have you ever heard or seen a boneless wiper? Recently I changed the ordinary wiper blades of my car to this boneless type. The cost is double to the price of ordinary rubber wiper.

These boneless wiper blades fit directly to the hook of the original wiper arm, and installation is pretty easy. The blades fit nicely and firmly to the slope of the windscreen, providing effective wiping to covered area. They operate quietly and will not lift away even when used during high speed driving. The blades form an even pressure onto the windscreen, and the rubber contact is less likely to deform over time.

The manufacturer of this kind of boneless wiper claims that they are durable, have longer lifespan than ordinary rubber wipers, and can be used for years. There are also boneless wiper with silicon blades, which cost even higher, but is even more durable.

PU car seat cover

The original beige colour fabric of Toyota Avanza 1.5 makes any dirty spot or stain on the car seats to be quite visible and difficult to clean up. As a result, I've covered the car seats with a layer of beige colour PU (polyurethane) car seat cover. This colour of car seat cover perfectly match with the car interior, and is very close to the original colour of the underneath fabric.

I purchased this PU car seat cover from Brothers at the price of RM380, and additional RM40 for installation. The product consists of PU covers that match with all the 3 rows of Toyota Avanza seat and also PU covers for all the headrests.

Dirty stains on this PU car seat cover can easily be cleaned, and it is also water resistant. However, the car seats will feel a little bit hotter under the sun, and need about 3 minutes to cool down after the air-cond is turned on. This is not too bad since I already have the tint film installed which eliminates heat from building up in the car due to sunlight.

Leather seat cover would be better than PU material, but the price is also much more higher. Beside this seat cover, AOCM also recommends another nice looking CarPro brand PU seat cover, which is almost the same price, available in JE Automart.

Jump start the flat battery of a car

It is always a good idea to keep a set of jump start cables in your car, in case somebody in the car park with flat battery need your help, or in case you are the unfortunate one. Try to get a thicker jump start cables which supports 400 cold crank Amps or above.

Here are the procedure to jump start a car with flat battery that I've learned.

Before jump starting:

1. Check the dead battery. Does it suffered from loose connection to alternator? Does it need to top up with distilled water? Fix the possible problem that has caused the battery to be flat. Sometimes you might find that replacing the dead battery directly is a better and/or safer solution than jump starting.
2. If there is white/green residue developed around the battery terminal, clean them out first. Don't touch it with your bare hand, wearing glove is a good idea.
   
3. Bring the car with charged battery to the front of the car that need jump starting, position so that both the batteries as close as possible.
4. Ensure the engine of both the cars are off. All the lamps, radio, air-conds, etc. should also be off.
5. Ensure that the hand brake of both cars are engaged.
   

Performing the jump start:

1. Clamp one end of the red-handled/positive jumper cable to the positive terminal (the one marked with the [+] sign) of the charged battery.
2. Clamp the other end of the red-handled cable to the positive terminal of the dead battery.
3. Clamp one end of the black-handled/negative cable to the negative terminal (the one marked with the [-] sign) of the charged battery.
   
4. Clamp the other end of the black-handled/negative cable to the metal part of the car with the dead battery. Clamp it somewhere where the current can ground out, such as unpainted bolt or bracket in the chassis. Caution: do not attach the black-handled/negative cable to the dead battery itself.
5. Start the car with the charged battery. Wait for a while.
   
6. Start the car with the dead battery. If it still doesn't start after several attempts, the jump start has failed, and it is time to call a tow truck or bring a new battery to the car for replacement.
7. Keep the engine of both the cars on.

After the jump start:

1. Remove the clamp of the black-handled/negative cable from the grounding point.
2. Remove the other end of the black-handled/negative cable from the negative terminal of the charged battery.
3. Remove the clamp of the red-handled/positive cable from the jump started battery.
4. Remove the other end of the red-handled/positive cable from the charged battery.
5. Put back the jump start cables into the car.
6. The car with dead battery should be immediately driven to workshop for checking. Do not turn off its engine before it reaches the destination. If the battery is still usable, it needs at least half an hour for recharging. Try driving the car at higher RPM for faster charging.
   

HISC5 of a typical middle class person

"HISC₅" is a new term created by me, which describes the main things a middle class of my age is living for. These 8 basic elements that make up the life of the middle class are:

House - this is our shelter, our home, where our family live and rest. For most people, it is also one of the largest expenses they've spent in their lifetime. Middle class like us always strive to earn a better life, and our house can always reflect our living taste from this endeavour.

Insurance - this is a necessity nowadays, we just can't escape from it. When we own a car, auto insurance is compulsory before the car can go on road. When we mortgage our house, the bank always make fire insurance a must. When we work for a company, we are somehow insured as part of the benefit package, covering medical, hospitalization, accident, life, etc. And most middle class purchases some insurance products - medical card, whole life, investment linked, education, endowment, annuity, ... just to name a few.

Spouse - this is our lifetime partner which light up our lives. Lives would be somehow incomplete without the involvement of spouse. Your voyage shouldn't be alone without a companion.

Children - your offspring which grows your family tree, bring you joy, bring you fun, and sometimes bring you anger too. You nurture them, see them grow and develop. Together with your spouse, they make up what you call a family. And living together in your house, making a home sweet home.

Career - this is the successive course that make up your working life, enable you to contribute your skillsets, bring you remunerations, build your professionalism, develop your reputation, and so on.

Car - this is the piece of metal with roof, seats and wheels which enable you and your family to travel around, seek for foods, visit to places, and go to work. It shelters you from rain and sun, even protects you to certain extend in case accident happened. Your family lives would be much more fantastic with it, especially during your vacation.

Credit card - this plastic card is convenient, for you to pay bills online, act as deposit mechanism to check in hotels, substitute your cash to buy things, and earn you some points for reward redemption. When used with care, it also helps you to build up your credit integrity, useful when you apply for loan.

Cash - you need this current assets to maintain all the above, and you should make your cash work hard for you to grow more and counter inflation.

Your social status is pretty much measured by your "HISC₅", but there is something much more important that forms the underlying foundation to all of them. Can you guess what is that? Yes, it is your health. The 8 elements above are basic that make up your life as middle class, and health is the essential element for all classes of mankind. Of course, there are other elements which are equally important as well, such as parents, brothers, sisters, neighbours, bloggers, relatives, friends, pets, etc.

Since these are the basic elements in our life voyage, you will notice that the sharings in my blog are encompassed with these "HISC₅+health".

Tiles are different from each production batch

My house originally comes with 1x1 floor tiles. One of the main reason for me to changed them to 2x2 during renovation was because I couldn't find the matching 1x1 floor tiles, not even from the house developer, because the tiles of the same batch was finished.

Tiles are different from each production batch, especially in term of pattern and colour tone. The variance in batches for good quality tiles might be minimal, while the variance for ordinary tiles might be obvious.

Therefore, for new house owners, if you can foresee any renovation works that require additional tiles, be it floor tiles or wall tiles, you should quickly get from your house developer while the stock of the same batch is still available, or ask your renovation contractor to source for the same batch of tiles from the market while they are still available.

The same could be happen to paint. Different production batch of paint with same colour code is still slightly different in colour. The difference for good quality paints might be minimal, while the difference for poor quality paints can be obvious.

The problem in paint can be easily solved by repainting the whole wall with the new one. Same method applies to the problem in tiles, but involve in more cost and effort, i.e. to replace all the tiles of the same area with new one. This is exactly the reason why I changed the floor tiles downstairs to 2x2. Since the original tiles need to be replaced due to non-matching colour tone of different batch, might as well upgrading them from 1x1 to 2x2.

Dining table set

My Polo-Elle dining table set is purchased from Hugo Furniture in M.E.I. Furniture Fair, Desa Petaling.

Polo is the name of the 5' rubber wood dining table, and Elle is the name of the 6 cushioned dining chairs. On top of the table lays an 8mm tempered glass to protect the table.

Here are the tips for buying dining table set:

• the colour, size, shape and make of your dining table should match with your dining room.
  
• the foot of the table and chairs should be firmly stand on the floor and shouldn't be shakeable. Shakeable foot indicate poorly design joints or uneven length.
• during delivery, all the parts should come in original boxes, nicely and firmly wrapped with plastic. If they are not in original boxes and the protection plastic is obviously wrapped by hand, there is a high chance that you are getting a display set instead.
• ask for the tempered glass that match with the table, produced by the same factory. The table is subjected to scratches after use if without the tempered glass protection on top of it.

Toyota Avanza enhancement - Ultra Racing bars

This is a major modification I've done to my Toyota Avanza. It is significant in term of cost, which is RM1xxx for 4 state-of-the-art powder coated steel bars from Ultra Racing (M) S/B. It is even more significant in term of enhancement in safety, handling, comfort and performance of the car. Driver and passengers of the car will feel a completely different ride experience after the installation.

The original Toyota Avanza already comes with a front anti roll bar to tie together the 2 front wheels suspensions. The 4 bars I've installed are:

1. 4-points strut bar (stabilizer bar): provides better handling and control by tremendously improves in stability and road traction, especially during cornering or driving with high speed. Strengthening the chassis to reduce chassis flex and improve reaction to sterling movement.

2. rear anti roll bar (anti-sway bar): tie the lower suspension components together across the 2 wheels. It keeps the car flat in turnings instead of leaning over to one side, and keeps the traction by preventing understeer or oversteer. Also makes the suspension feel stiffer, therefore effectively reduce in bounciness.

3. front lower arm bar: increases overall rigidity and reduces body flexing of the car's front body. Improves suspension effectiveness and eliminates unwanted car rolling movements.

4. rear lower arm bar: increases overall rigidity and reduces body flexing of the car's rear body. Improves suspension effectiveness and eliminates unwanted car rolling movements.




Ultra Racing bars work together as a system, therefore it is recommended to have all of them installed to the car, although they can also work individually with lesser effect. These products are widely used by AOCM members and proven to be effective in transforming the Toyota Avanza ride to a totally new experience. The Toyota Avanza will feel like other sedan cars, and you'll notice the bounciness and body roll has been greatly reduced.

Kindly be reminded that there are many similar products in the market, some even imitate the Ultra Racing products. Not all of them can produce the same result and performance. Only the original Ultra Racing bars are highly recommended by AOCM. These bars come with at least 3 years warranty and guaranteed trade-in value.

My feelings to the car after installation:

• bounciness reduced substantially.
• body rolls eliminated.
• great improvement to handling and response.
• feeling like driving sedan car, and still maintain the high clearance view.
• driving at the speed of 110km/h has the same feeling as driving at the speed of 50km/h. The handling is the same, and you won't feel the car is "floating" at high speed.
• driving on curvy road has almost the same feeling as driving on straight road. The handling is superb. There is not much body roll, and you don't need to press on the break as much as before.
• cornering (eg. going down highway) can be made at the speed of around 80km/h and the car is still stable.

Suspension system - of bumpy or bouncy ride

If any of your friends are complaining about the ride comfort problem they experienced with Toyota Avanza, please refer them to this article.

It is a known issue that the suspension system of Toyota Avanza does not give a promising ride, although improvement has been made for the 1.5 version from the earlier 1.3 version to minimize the effect.

Some people says it is "bumpy", while some other says it is "bouncy". For my experience, it is not bumpy but bouncy.

A vehicle is bumpy if its suspension is stiff. Stiffer suspension makes the car feel more responsive and more direct to the road condition. When the suspension encounters a bump, you will feel the car is "jumping", and in severe case, you will feel your buttock lifts up from the seat a bit whenever a bump is encountered. Normally, cars designed for performance ride (eg. sports cars), those designed for off-road driving (eg. 4WD), and those designed to carry heavy loads (eg. trucks), have stiffer suspension and might bring you a bumpy ride experience. This is not true for Toyota Avanza.

A vehicle is bouncy if its suspension is soft. When the suspension encounters a bump or running on uneven road, you will feel the car is bouncing up and down. The ideal condition for a car to cross a bump is to rebounce once, but a bouncy car will rebounce more than one time before the suspension stabilized again. This is exactly what happen to the Toyota Avanza.

To overcome the bounciness problem of Toyota Avanza, one can modify the original suspension system with the right combination of coil springs and shock absorbers. Several options can be found in AOCM, which vary in different pricing and level of comfortableness.

In addition, you can also enhance the ride comfort, increase stability and reduce the bounciness of Toyota Avanza by installing Ultra Racing bars, which is highly recommended by AOCM members. These bars can really make a big difference to the ride comfort and drive handling of Toyota Avanza. I'll share about my experience on installing and using the Ultra Racing bars in the next article.

WCIT 2008 will be held in Kuala Lumpur soon

The World Congress on Information Technology (WCIT), a global IT event held every 2 years, hosted by Malaysia this year, this event will be held in Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre on this 18-22 May 2008. It is jointly organized by the Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC) and the Association of the Computer and Multimedia Industry of Malaysia (PIKOM), with the support of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation Malaysia.

Themed “The Global Impact of Information and Communications Technology: Enable Businesses, Empower Societies, Enrich Economies”, this five-day event is expected to draw more than 2,500 delegates from over 80 countries. Keynote speakers are expected to include some of the most respected and admired names in Government and industry.

If you are in the IT industry, you shouldn't miss out this event.

HOMEDEC 2008 is around the corner

HOMEDEC (Home Decoration Exhibition) 2008 will be held in Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre just beside the Petronas Twin Towers on this 1-4 May 2008, 10am-8pm.

More than 200 exhibitors will showcase their products and services on interior designs, furnitures, lightings, landscaping, home appliances, home accessories, home security, etc.

Speakers for seminar in this event including Eric Leong, Henry Fong, Toh Chee Lip, etc.

If you plan to perform renovation or upgrade your home, you could probably get some idea from this event.

Information on the tyre wall

The car tyre is marked with various information on its wall, including the tyre size, load rating, speed limit, place of manufacture, time of manufacture, etc.

For example, the tyres originally come with Toyota Avanza 1.5 has the designation of 185/65R15 88S. This denotes the tire has:

• section width of 185mm
• aspect ratio of 65, which is calculated by its (height/width)
• "R" for radial construction
• rim diameter of 15 inches
• load rating of 88, which can carry maximum weight of 560kg
• speed rating "S", which the maximum safe speed is 180km/h

There is also a 4-digit batch number, or a code longer than 4-digit and the last 4 digits are numeric. The first two digits are the week of manufacture, and the last two digits are the year of manufacture. For example, a batch number of "1007" indicates the tyre was manufactured on the 10th week of year 2007.

The rubber of the tyre will degrade over time no matter it is being used or not. It is recommended to change tyres at most 6 years from their manufacture time. When you purchase new tyres, ensure that the tyres are manufactured less than 1 year so that you can use them for a longer time.

Toyota Avanza enhancement - cargo net

The boot space of Toyota Avanza is flexible. It could be just enough to store small things when the 3rd row seat is locked in place, and it could be very spacious when the 3rd row seat is folded forward.

To prevent things from falling out of the boot space when the door is opened, you can install a cargo net like this.



This cargo net is made with extensible Nylon ropes, and is slung to 4 hooks attached at each corner. It is easily detachable when not in use. The hooks can be attached to the car body with 3M double-sided tape, or optionally can be firmly secured with screw.

I could hardly find this cargo net in most car accessories shops, and finally found and purchased it with Eneos at 1-Utama.

Toyota Avanza enhancement - wing mirrors with LED signal lamp

The original wing mirrors of Toyota Avanza does not come with LED signal lamp. Recently, this wing mirrors with LED signal lamp is made available as an optional accessory by UMW Toyota.



Similar products are also available in car accessories shops such as Brothers, JE Automart, etc.

Car compass on dashboard

I sticked this car compass on the dashboard of my car as a useful tool for navigating the direction, especially when driving in a new area.



Its liquid filled compass ball will rotate automatically to indicate the facing direction. It is a handy poor-man's navigator when GPS system is not available.

I rely to it quite a lot of time when driving inside housing area which I've never been before. By remembering the direction of the main road, I can always return back to the main road from the housing area later.

The AXA Affin Turning Point Contest

AXA AFFIN Life Insurance Berhad is having an online Turning Point contest now.

It is a game that lets you experience life by managing your wealth while balancing it with the quality of your life. This game will challenge you to manage your wealth through four different life stages, i.e. fresh graduated, newly married, married with children, and golden age, which are represented by four levels in the game. Each level will take 5 minutes to complete.

The contest begins at 2pm on 22nd April 2008 and closes at 11:59pm on 30th June 2008. Participants must be Malaysian and be aged 21 and above.

1st prize winner will get RM50k, 2nd prize is RM10k, 3rd prize is RM5k, and 5 other consolations will get RM1k.

To participate, go to http://www.myaxaplan.com.my.

Toyota Avanza enhancement - rear bumper step guard

The rear bumper step guard for Toyota Avanza is an essential shield against unseemly scratches and scuffs from frequent loading and unloading. This blackie step guard also enhances the overall outlook of the car's rear view.



You can get this rear bumper step guard from most car accessories shops, including Brothers, JE Automart, etc. Now, it is also available in UMW Toyota under the item named as "rear bumper protector".

Toyota Avanza enhancement - D-pillar reflector

To further accentuated the rear profile of your Toyota Avanza, you can install reflector onto its D-pillars.



This will make the car's high body become even more visible, especially at night or in the rain. It will make the rear view of the car looks even nicer, as well as able to increase the safety factor from being accidentally "kissed" by the car behind.

You can get these D-pillar reflectors from car accessories shops, such as Brothers, JE Automart, etc. Now, it is available in UMW Toyota too.

Skim coating the walls to be painted with Pearl Glo

If your wall isn't smooth enough, consider skim coat it with a layer of plaster to make it really smooth and looks nice from every angle.

Skim coating is important especially if you plan to paint the wall with Pearl Glo paints, or to install wall paper on it. Uneven wall will look wavy and not nice when painted with shiny paint or installed with wall paper. The effect is even maximized under the light.

During renovation, I had done skim coat treatment to all the walls downstairs of my house (excluding those in the kitchen with ceiling height tiles) before applying the ICI Pearl Glo paints on them. That had costed me for a few hundred ringgit only.

Toyota Avanza enhancement - seat locking system

The Toyota Avanza 1.5 provides versatile seat configuration. Both its 2nd row seats are foldable, and of course, its 3rd row seat is also foldable.

It is found that once you fold down the seat, you need to slam it pretty hard to lock the seat back in place. If the seat is not locked back to the car floor properly, it might flip up when you step on the break of the car later.

A simple modification to the seat lock position can enable the car seat to hook back easily to its place. Now, instead of slamming the car seat to lock it in place, you just need to gentlely push it downwards, and it will hook back firmly with a "click" sound.

The trick is to lift the rod of the locking system a little bit higher with washers. You'll need 2 washers to lift each side of the rod. As there are altogether 3 foldable seats, you'll need a total of 6 washers for this modification.



Just unlock and remove the rod from the car floor, put the washer in, put back the rod, and fasten the nut. Then, test the position by locking the car seat.

Toyota Avanza enhancement - rubber door seals

If you ever sit in a Toyota Avanza with original specs, you might have noticed that its noise insulation is very poor. Noise from outside is pretty loud, especially when motocycles pass by. The feeling is as if the car window is not closed, although it is.

This problem is due to a gap of about 10 mm found between the door and the car body when the door is closed. All Toyota Avanza doors with the original grey colour seal will suffer with this problem, because that grey door seal does not have a ring part to fill up the 10 mm gap when the door is closed.

It is found that all the 4 doors of Toyota Avanza 1.3 model are using that grey door seal; whereas the 2 front doors of the 1.5 model are using another black colour rubber door seal which comes with the ring, while its 2 rear doors are still using the grey door seal. This means the 1.5 model already addressed and fixed half of the problem.

The solution:

• For 1.3 model, replace all the 4 grey door seals with the black rubber door seal with ring.


• For 1.5 model, replace the 2 grey door seals with the black rubber door seal with ring.

You can get the solution from AOCM at the cost of less than RM50 only (for 4 doors). The rubber door seals are also available in most car accessories shops. Once the rubber door seals are installed, the noise level in the Avanza cabin will be about the same as in other car makes.



You can get even better noise insulation by applying special insulating material inside the doors, but that will be another story.

Toyota Avanza enhancement - lights on alert

Have you ever experienced draining out your car battery due to forgetting to switch off your car headlights?

Today, many newer car models already come with a light on alert buzzer, which will sound and alert you whenever you turn off your car engine and trying to get out of the car with the headlights still turned on. With this, you will never forget to switch off the headlights and later having trouble to start the car engine with drained battery again.

Unfortunately, this light on alert is not found in the original factory make of both Toyota Avanza 1.3 and 1.5 models. Owners of Toyota Avanza need not be worried, because the solution can be found in AOCM and the total installation cost is less than RM50 only.

This light on alert modification requires a 12v DC 2-pole Type-A relay, a buzzer, some flat cable lugs, some wire cables, and PVC tape, and the same way of installation is applicable to both the Toyota Avanza 1.3 and 1.5 models. For the schematic diagram and more details, please refer to the AOCM forum.

Please beware that any modification done to the car has the tendency to void certain parts of the 3-years warranty from UMW Toyota.

Your camera handphone is handy in the car park

Most handphone comes with camera feature nowadays. You can make use of it to snap a picture of the location where you've parked your car in the car park, like these:



This will help you to remember the parking bay location of your car in the car park, especially in those big shopping malls. Now, you don't have to memorize the pillar number anymore, and shouldn't have trouble finding for your car in those big car parks again.

D-Link DSL-G604T wireless ADSL router

At home, I use this D-Link DSL-G604T wireless ADSL router to access the Streamyx ADSL service and connect to the Internet. By the time I bought this ADSL router, the D-Link DSL-2640T model wasn't available in the market yet.



I heard that this DSL-G604T ADSL router with earlier version of firmware was having some connection stability problem, but I never encountered such problem, and I have upgraded its firmware to version V1.00B02T02.MA.20050303, which is pretty stable.

This is an all-in-one ADSL router, with the following built-in functions:

• 4-port 100Mbps Ethernet switch
• 54Mbps 802.11g wireless access point which supports both WEP and WPA encryption
• DHCP server
• NAT
• UPnP
• DMZ
• Virtual server
• basic firewall
• NTP client
• Dynamic DNS
• SNMP
• Web GUI interface and also text based SSH/telnet interface for administration

My PC is directly connected to its LAN port, and my laptop can get connected anywhere in the house via its wireless access. I protect this ADSL router from surge and lightning with the Belkin SurgeMaster.

The LHDN e-Filing system for 2007 assessment

Have you submitted your 2007 income tax assessment yet? The closing date is near by now.

I have been using the online e-Filing system of Inland Revenue Board or Lembaga Hasil Dalam Negeri (LHDN) since last year. Many people complaint about flaws and problems of the system last year. I was among the lucky one who didn't face major problem with their system last year, other than not able to save a copy of the form once the submit button was clicked.

To be frank, there are improvements seen in the e-Filing system this year. At least it supports Firefox and other browsers, rather than just locked-in to Internet Explorer only as of last year. The submitted tax form is retrievable in PDF format, rather than the poorly formatted and wrongly paginated HTML last year. So far, none of my friends experience the flaw of showing wrong information of other people, which is a very serious problem happened to many taxpayers last year.

More strength to the system security is still required. For example, it is too simple to reset the password. Should have more measure to identify the person before allowing password to be reset. The system should work with our MyKad chip, and it seems that the system was designed to work that way, but somehow this measure is not yet implemented.

The improvement seen must be the merit of our new Chief Secretary to Government or Ketua Setiausaha Negara (KSN), Tan Sri Mohd Sidek Hassan, and the new CEO of LHDN, Dato' Hasmah Abdullah. Both of them have been well known to be serious in productive and quality public service governance.

Before I forget, here is the URL for the LHDN e-Filing system.

Rowenta tower fan

This is the Rowenta tower fan I bought from Harvey Norman few years back.



It has many fancy functions with large choice of settings, and remotely controllable. For example, it has air flow variation function to create different experience of wind effect; it supports air flow reduction in stages; it has timer function too.

However, I urge you to think twice before deciding to purchase any tower fan, and you should test them out throughly at the shop. The reason being, tower fans are generally more expensive than table fans or stand fans, but they cannot blow the wind as effective as table fans or stand fans. The breeze produced is just too weak compared with its counterparts.

Panasonic SC-HT330 5.1 channels mini home theatre system

I bought this Panasonic SC-HT330 5.1 channels mini home theatre system 2 years ago. It only cost me RM7xx, which is slightly higher than a branded DVD player.

I'm not an audio-visual enthusiast, and this mini home theatre system suit my need. It supports HighMAT standard. Audio wise, it sounds decent and good with the 400W amplifier output from its 1 central speaker, 4 surround speakers, and an active subwoofer. Of course, with its price, you can't expect too high for its performance.

Video wise, it is able to playback DVDs and VCDs which sometimes can't even be read by those non-branded DVD players. Its built-in FM radio does not sound as good as from Astro, probably due to reception problem. We haven't used its karaoke function yet.

If you plan to spend a few hundred for a good DVD player, might as well spend a little bit more to get this mini home theatre system. The sound playback from this system is definitely very much better than the TV speaker, good for watching great movies with Dolby sound.

The backyard fence

This is my backyard and its fencing. The pebble wash floor at the backyard (as seen on the lower left part of the photo) is non-slip in nature, and maintenance free.



Then fence comprises bricks and mortars portion at the bottom, and Chengai wooden stripes on top, arranged in the order such that one stripe is inside the iron horizontal bars, another is outside the bars, then inside, and outside, ... They are fasten to the bars using stainless steel bolts and nuts.

This kind of wooden stripes arrangement makes the fence able to see through when viewed from its side, and blocked when viewed from right angle in front. It allows breeze to freely flow through the gaps, forming harmonic Qi as told by the Feng Shui master.

The door chime system

There are 2 types of door chime system, ie. the wired and wireless. I found that the bell of wired door chime system comes with pretty standard sound of "ding-dong", and the wireless door chime system has more variety of musical sound.

I use a wired door chime system, which the wiring had already been done by the developer. I installed a door bell switch with big button and water resistance circuitry, next to my letterbox, on the pillar which holds the main gate of my house.




Mounting a good and durable door bell switch is essential to ensure the door chime system continues to work for a long period of time.

The 2x2 floor tiles

Most new houses are installed with 2" x 2" floor tiles nowadays. These large surface tiles make your floor having less lines, and bring the visual effect to make the room looks more spacious.

Workmanship is very important for 2x2 tiles flooring. The tiles should not have any hollowness, the lines between tiles should be very slim and straight, and all tiles must be evenly laid flat and smooth.

Here are a few considerations for choosing and laying the 2x2 tiles:

• Feel the edges and corners of the tiles with bare hand or foot. The edges of good quality tiles won't give you much "cutting feeling".
• Good quality 2x2 tiles are normally thick and firm. The thicker the tile, the less likely it is to crack or break. However, the actual robustness is determined by their modulus of rupture measurement.
• The tiles should have satisfactory level of resistance to stain, abrasion and chemical.
• Avoid too slippery tiles. Use only non-slip tiles in kitchen, washroom, etc.
• Use light colour tiles for living room.
• Use dark colour filling for the gap lines between the tiles. If you use the white colour filling, it will eventually turn black when dirts are collected in it, and that would make your floor looks ugly.
• Most building materials contain minimal radioactive elements in them. Some poor quality tiles made in China have higher level of radioactive elements, which is bad to your health.
• Insist to use contractor with good workmanship to install the tiles.

Timber stripes floor

The upstairs of my house come originally with timber stripes floor. The timber stripes are 4 times larger than parquet, making them to have more glueing surface and stick firmer with the floor. But other than that, they are just like parquet, having the same weaknesses.

Special care need to be taken to the timber stripes, to protect them from scratches, termites, water, direct sunlight, etc. I only use roller chairs upstairs to prevent the timber stripes from scratches when pulling or pushing the chairs. The floor need to be mop as dry as possible. It is advisible to mop it with a mixture of some white vinegar or methylated spirits with cold water.

I spent RM500 to polish and wax the whole timber stripes floor before moving in. There are 2 types of wax applicable, the glossy one (which is used on the timber or parquet floor of most houses) and the matte one. We'd chosen the matted finishing, and the floor looks more natural and resillent.

Inverter technology

Nowadays, inverter technology has been vastly used in electrical appliances working on compressor, such as air-conds, fridges, etc.

Inverter systems can help to save on electricity cost by optimizing the compressor efficiency so that it consumes just as much energy as needed at any given time.

How the non-inverter compressor works?

• it turns itself on and off to maintain the temperature level. When the temperature is above the preset level, the compressor starts working until the temperature is slightly below the preset level, where it will automatically turn off itself.
• whenever the compressor start up, more electricity is needed to bring it to work.
• its capacity is constant, and will consume the maximum amount of energy to produce a maximum amount of cooling at all times.

How the inverter compressor works?

• it will speed up and slow down to maintain the conditioned space temperature level.
• the compressor is always on.
• its capacity is variable and changes as needed. The amount of energy consumed by the inverter compressor is directly related to the amount of cooling required.

As a result, the inverter technology brings the following benefits:

• the electricity consumption is optimized.
• due to the inverter efficiency, overall electricity cost is lesser, especially for long hour usage.
• temperature fluctuation is maintained within a smaller range and kept uniformed.

Therefore, it is a wise choice to buy air-conds and fridge with inverter technology.

Belkin SurgeMaster

I use this Belkin SurgeMaster as power extension to connect my PC and its peripherals. It cost higher than ordinary power extension, because it comes with superior surge and lightning protection function.



In addition to the MS188 Power Saver which can provide minimal protection against power surges for up to 400 volts only, this Belkin SurgeMaster is able to provide surge protection of up to 6,000 volts and maximum spike of 19,500 Amperes. It comes with a lifetime Product Warranty, and also a £50,000 connected equipment insurance.

Beside providing surge and lightning protection to the equipments connected to its 4 power sockets, it also safeguard my ADSL modem with its surge protected telephone jacks. It has a green LED to indicate whether its surge protection is functioning properly, and another yellow LED to indicate if the electrical circuit is earthed properly.

The 3 burner hob

This is the 3 burner hob in my kitchen. If you believe in Feng Shui, you will know that 1 or 3 burners is better than 2 or 4.



This hob makes use of a 9V battery underneath for ignition, which is pretty handy. If you plan to install built-in hob like this, you should plan for air ventilation underneath it, to provide better burner combustion and to dissipate the heat underneath the hob. In fact, the traditional type of hob with stand that can directly put on top of the stove, is better than built-in type in terms of providing air ventilation during cooking.

You should connect the hob with the gas tank using good quality pipe and regulator with safety feature that can prevent gas leakage. The hob burners should also have safety feature to shut off the gas supply in case the fire on it was accidentally put off.

Cooker hood on top of the hob

This is the Pacific Magic AutoClean AC-9800 cooker hood in my kitchen, with autoclean feature and air suction power of up to 1440 metre cube per hour.



It is advisible for Asian family to use Asian made cooker hood, which normally designed to have higher air suction power than the European or American made. This is because Asian way of cooking can produce much more smokes than Western style. You have the option to choose among the brands of Taiwan, China or Japan made, such as Pacific, Fotile, Rinnai, etc. The chosen hood should have exhaust airflow of 950 metre cube per hour and above.

Hood with automatic self-cleaning system is handy and good for lazy people like us. Noise level during operation is also an important consideration.

When you renovate your kitchen before moving in, you should plan for the exact location of your hood and hob. The cooker hood requires one power point to operate, and exhaust pipe connected to the top of the hood to suck away the cooking smokes.